The Best of Us: A Forced Proximity, Best Friend's Brother Romance (Love in Isolation Book 2)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ryan

Kendall can whine all she wants, but she should’ve come fully prepared. One of my biggest pet peeves when traveling is stopping. If it takes thirty minutes, that’s too much time wasted, and I just want to get to the cabin so I can get this weekend over with.

The only reason I agreed is because my best friend Eli asked me to join Kendall so she wouldn’t be alone in the big house by herself. It was important to him, and I want my sister to be happy on her honeymoon, so I said yes. I should’ve known Kendall was going to go overboard with her shopping, but I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.

After we’re out of the city, Kendall reaches over and turns off the radio. I glance over at her, and she gives me a death glare. “I can’t handle listening to this for the next two hours, so we’re going to have to compromise.”

I turn it back on. “Trust me when I say this is compromising.”

She lets out a growl, and I wonder if she’s going to knock the s**t out of me by how angry she becomes. Reactions like this aren't new for me. Considering Kendall and Cami have been best friends for as long as I can remember, I’m used to her tantrums. They’re each other’s ride or die, and growing up, she was always around. If Cami wasn’t at her house, Kendall was at ours, and they’re still just as close.

Somehow Kendall was able to stay out of the eye of the paparazzi. Cami wasn’t so lucky and basically had her teenage years documented in photos. It’s another reason I was so adamant about breaking away from the glitz and glam of being a St. James. While I could’ve lived off my parents' money for the rest of my life, I’m wired differently than most who grew up in a family like mine.

An underlying current has always streamed between us, and it’s why I’ve kept my distance. I never wanted to become a wedge between her and Cami’s friendship, plus we’re completely opposite. I want to be with someone who aspires to do more in life than look pretty. I need substance in a relationship, and she’s too vain to understand that.

We ride in silence for the rest of the drive. Eventually, her breathing slows, and I glance over, noticing how peaceful she looks sleeping. The closer we get to Roxbury, the harder the snow starts to fall, and we drive into a whiteout. I change the radio to the local weather station to get an update.

“Massive snowfall happening in Upstate New York. If you’re on the roads, be careful. We’ll be right back after this message from our advertisers,” the announcer says.

“Great,” I mutter. I turn it off and focus on the road. I knew it would be snowing, but I thought we’d miss most of it. Kendall stirs, and her eyes flutter open. Immediately, she repositions herself in the seat, and her mouth falls open.

“How long has it been like this?” she asks, looking at me.

“About twenty minutes. It’s progressively getting worse, but I’m not pulling over because I don’t think we can wait it out. Want to look at a radar for me?”

She sarcastically laughs. “Uhh.”

I hand her my phone and unlock it, then tell her which app to open. She does and shows me the screen once it’s loaded. All I see is pink and blue, which means heavy snowfall. “Great.”

“What? What does it mean?” The concern in her tone isn’t lost on me.

“Basically, we need to take it slow so we make it there safely. Looks like it might be like this the rest of the way.”

She sits up straighter and glances at the GPS. Worry washes across her face, but I stay calm. Her reaction is almost predictable because she doesn’t typically leave her precious castle unless she absolutely has to. Kendall’s the kind of woman who wouldn’t risk breaking a nail or getting her designer shoes dirty.

“Trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you. We’re only an hour away, so I think it’s best we continue instead of turning around.”

“I agree. One hour this way is better than two hours the other with a storm chasing us back to the city.” She keeps her eyes focused on the road even though it’s barely visible.

“And this is the only time I have off before the wedding activities start, so it’s kind of a now or never thing.”

For the next half hour, I hold the steering wheel with white knuckles as I navigate down the winding one-lane roads. While driving conditions aren’t ideal, I’m happy we left when we did, or we could’ve possibly had to pull over and wait it out. Not something I ever want to do because the conditions can turn very quickly, and the last thing I want is to be stranded in a car for hours.

When we’re ten minutes away from the cabin, our phones alerts buzz.

“What’s it say?” I ask.

Kendall unlocks her phone and reads it to me. “Basically, there’s an arctic blast, and they’re predicting a lot of snow. Roads are closing too.”

When I finally turn into the driveway, relief floods through me because I was growing more concerned. I open the garage and pull in so we don’t have to unload in this weather.

“I’m so happy we’re here,” she admits and gets out. The wind howls, and a shiver runs through me. It’s much colder here than it was in the city.

“Guess we should start unpacking,” I tell her as I unlock the cabin door and turn on the lights and heat.

When I walk back to her, she’s wheeling her suitcases toward me.

“You get the heavy stuff,” she snickers. “It’s why you’re here.”

I pop an eyebrow at her but keep my thoughts to myself as she passes me, and damn, she smells so good. We make several trips until everything is unloaded. As we put the ridiculous amount of groceries she bought where they belong, I bump into her several times.

“Sorry,” I say, grabbing her arm to keep her steady. For a moment, I think her breath hitches, but then she smiles.

“I got this,” she tells me, brushing her body against mine before walking into the pantry again. “You weren’t lying when you said there was a ton of food here, but I’m glad I grabbed what I did. Cami won’t eat half of this,” she explains.

I lean against the doorframe and watch her with my arms crossed over my chest.

Kendall points at the jars of caviar and oysters. “She’d rather starve than eat any of this.”

“If she were hungry, she’d eat it. Anyone would.” My parents always keep the house stocked with their favorite things, and since Cami loves visiting so much some of her staples are here too, but not enough to last for as long as she and Eli plan to stay.

“Hey, instead of standing around, do you think you can get the Christmas tree from the basement? Cami mentioned it being stored there.”

I glare at her. “Do you have any idea how old that tree is? I wouldn’t be surprised if it has dry rot.”

“I don’t care if it’s covered in dust bunnies. We’ll make it work, or you’ll be going out in the snow and cutting me a fresh one. I’m not kidding.” Kendall gives me a pointed look.

“Don’t forget that I’m not one of your parents' workers that you can just boss around,” I warn. “I’m here for my sister and best friend, that’s it.”

She lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Whatever you say, Ryan.”

Kendall finishes stuffing the shelves, then goes back to the kitchen and packs the freezer and fridge. Though I don’t want to go down to the basement, I do because the quicker we get everything set up, the faster we can leave. Instead of wasting any more time, I take the stairs to the lower floor two at a time.

Once I’m in the storage area of the basement, I click on the light switch and glance around. It’s like a time capsule in here with old holiday decorations and old furniture. There’s a thin layer of dust that I’ll need to mention to my parents so their cleaning company can make sure they take care of this the next time they're out. The last time I was down here was over a decade ago.

After I find the gigantic tree, I search around for the old ornaments. When we were kids and Dad wanted to get away from the business, we’d escape to the cabin. Cami and I always loved it here because it was different from what we were used to. After Mom decided she wanted a newer, more updated place, we started visiting there more often, but Cami still comes as much as she can.

There're at least four giant plastic tubs full of ornaments, but considering I have no idea what Kendall has in mind, I only bring the tree because that’s all she asked for. As soon as I set it down by the couch, Kendall walks in with her hair pulled up into a ponytail.

“Oh wow,” she says after she unzips the tree bag. The lights flicker, and Kendall turns and meets my eyes. “Uhh.”

Immediately, our phones buzz, and we both look at another weather alert.

WIND CHILL WARNING: VERY COLD AIR AND WIND WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WINDCHILL VALUES EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT THREE DAYS ACROSS WARNED AREA. PLEASE BE ADVISED OF ROAD CLOSURES DUE TO EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL DUE TO THE ARCTIC BLAST. TEMPERATURES COULD PLUNGE FROM 10 TO -30 BY TOMORROW AND RECORD-BREAKING AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL PREDICTED. TAKE PROPER PRECAUTIONS.

“f**k,” I mutter, then walk to the large windows in the living room and notice how bad it’s gotten outside. The lights blip off, then come back on.

“Will we lose power?” Kendall asks.

“As long as the winds don’t get any stronger, I think we’ll be okay.”

“We better be. I’m not prepared for a camping trip.” Kendall continues scrolling through her phone.

“I can’t imagine you camping, ever,” I say.

She groans. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re just not the type of person to do outdoor things. I’m sure your version of camping is staying at the Four Seasons.”

Her jaw clenches. “Sometimes you’re such a dickhead.”

“But am I wrong?” I push.

Kendall shakes her head and storms into the kitchen. I get my duffel and go upstairs to the room I typically stay in. Since Kendall is such a queen, she can have the master bedroom with the amazing bathroom. I’m fine in my peasant quarters.

When I enter my room, I try to remember the last time I was here. It’s been a while, though Eli stayed in this room when he quarantined with Cami. When I think back to that time, it makes me sick. Watching so many people suffer f****d me up, and while a vaccine has finally been approved for mass distribution, what I saw during that time never left me. I’ve always loved my job, but I wasn’t trained to deal with something of that nature. I lost a lot of patients as well as some colleagues, and I felt like I didn’t sleep for weeks. Hell, months even.

I was numb for most of it just to get through the day.

After I’ve unpacked the small number of clothes I brought with me, I go back downstairs.

Kendall’s sitting at the bar on her phone as she eats a salad. I open the packed fridge and look around.

“What can I eat in here?” I ask.

“You’re smart, figure it out,” she snaps, but I know a lot of these things aren’t for us. Instead of asking again, I pull out some mayo and lunch meat. There’s a loaf of bread on the counter, so I open it. I set a plate down on the bar, making the messiest looking sandwich ever, but it'll do the job. Kendall stares, silently judging my masterpiece of a meal, then goes back to her phone.

After I’m done eating, I rinse my plate and place it in the dishwasher, then go to the living room and check the amount of firewood we have. There’s enough to last us a while, but considering we’ll only be here a few days, I don’t bother looking to see if there’s more in the shed.

Plopping on the couch, I turn on the weather channel so I can get an update. I’m balanced on the edge of the couch watching how dangerous the conditions have become, and I’m worried it might linger. This storm needs to pass quickly so I can get back to the city. Kendall enters moments later, and from my peripheral, I can see her watching too. She lets out a long sigh.

Eventually, she sits, but she’s on the opposite end of the large sectional couch. I know I’ve pissed her off, but she’ll get over it. I won’t suck up to her or stroke her ego like everyone else does. There’s no way I’ll be kissing the ground she walks on, and if she thought that’d happen, she’s sadly mistaken.

After a few hours of watching TV, I yawn. I’ve been up since four because I went to the hospital and worked a few hours before I picked up Kendall. Eventually, she gets up and grabs her two suitcases, then struggles to get them up the stairs.

“You want some help?” I ask.

After she shoots me a glare from over her shoulder, she continues to lug her heavy ass luggage to the top floor.

“No,” she barks.

“Master bedroom is yours,” I yell, and when I hear the door slam, I know she heard me.

“Good night to you too,” I mumble to myself, then turn off the TV and lights. Before going upstairs, I check the thermostat and set the heat higher because the outside temperature is still dropping. As I climb the stairs, I laugh knowing I can still get under her skin. The next few days are going to be interesting.